Blog Profile / 43(B)log
| URL : | http://tushnet.blogspot.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Industries / Law | |
| Posts on Regator: | 2353 | |
| Posts / Week: | 8.6 | |
| Archived Since: | March 17, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Rack and ruin: search queries no aid to Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. v. 7525419 Canada Inc., No. C12-1387 (W.D. Wash. Dec. 27, 2012) Older case, but of interest because of its interpretation of search engine results. The district court found that “Beyond the Rack,” which does online short-term...Show More Summary
Claims over allegedly inhumanely raised chickens survive
Hemy v. Perdue Farms, Inc., No. 11-888 (D.N.J. Mar. 31, 2013) Discussion of previous opinion. Hemy brought a proposed class action alleging that Purdue’s Harvestland brand misled consumers by using the terms “humanely raised” and “USDA...Show More Summary
Unusual copyright permission term leads to unsuccessful lawsuit
Great British Teddy Bear Co. v. McNeil-PPC, Inc., 2013 WL 1286148 (S.D.N.Y.) Plaintiff sued McNeil-PPC and Vidal Partnership (an ad agency) for copyright infringement and false advertising, along with violations of NY consumer protection law. Show More Summary
Support the Organization for Transformative Works
The Organization for Transformative Works is having its April fundraising drive ! Please donate to support our many projects, from defending vidders at the DMCA hearings to recording fannish histories and archiving fanworks !
Square pegs on round spots: transformative alteration?
Pam Chestek points to this interesting story about a photomanipulation by Romain Eloy that won a contest based on the theme of checkerboards.
It's based on a nice photo of a bug by Kevin Collins, but also altered; the photo was CC-licensed, but the creator of the photomanipulation didn't give credit. Show More Summary
Tom Friedman Op-ed Generator
With very realistic NYT website presentation. (I didn't label this "copyright," because I'm pretty sure these elements of a Tom Friedman column are scenes a faire.) And of course how could I resist a link to Matt Taibbi's delicious Friedman review, which reminds us that it is always useful to check that a metaphor is all the way dead before you mix it.
Lace pattern not infringing, but possibly bait & switch
Klauber Bros., Inc. v. Russell-Newman, Inc., 2013 WL 1245456
(S.D.N.Y.)
Klauber claimed that Russell-Newman (apparently now defunct)
and Bon-Ton Stores infringed its copyrights in certain lace patterns by selling
women’s underwear incorporating substantially similar patterns. Show More Summary
Court mostly rejects Dole's fruit salad of arguments, still hands Dole a partial win
Brazil v. Dole Food Co., Inc., 2013 WL 1209955 (N.D. Cal.) Brazil sued Dole for various violations of the UCL, FAL, CLRA, Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, and the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, and for restitution. The court rejected many of Dole’s arguments but still found the complaint lacking in key respects. Show More Summary
Design patent regime preempts state law claims for copying unpatented articles
Carson Optical, Inc. v. Prym Consumer USA, Inc., 2013 WL 1209041 (E.D.N.Y.) Carson sued Prym, a manufacturer of competing optical products, and Jo-Ann Stores, a retailer, for patent infringement, trade dress infringement, unfair competition, and tortious interference with prospective business relations. Show More Summary
Timeline of bad facts
Timelines, Inc. v. Facebook, Inc., No. 11-cv-6867 (N.D. Ill. Apr. 1, 2013) Timelines had a registration for “Timelines” for web-based services involving tracking events. Facebook decided to use “Timeline” as the centerpiece of its new strategy: In advance of Defendant’s development conference... Show More Summary
Reading list: empirical study of college football videogames
Galen Clavio, Anastasios Kaburakis, David A. Pierce, Patrick Walsh, & Heather Lawrence, College Athlete Representations in Sports Video Games, Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 2013, 6, 57-80 Interesting study, not least...Show More Summary
Proposition 64 didn't remove standing from competitors in California
Law Offices of Mathew Higbee v. Expungement Assistance Services, No. G046778 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 14, 2013) California’s UCL was amended “to preclude the shakedown lawsuit—the ‘I get rich’ lawsuit brought by a person who has had no business dealings...Show More Summary
$42 million in damages available for violation of rental rate unbundling law without reliance
Sobel v. Hertz Corp., 2013 WL 1182209 (D. Nev.) This putative class action was filed on behalf of consumers who rented cars at the Reno and Las Vegas airports from Hertz. In return for the right to operate on-site, rental car companies...Show More Summary
System design alone not enough for copyright liability
Luvdarts, LLC v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, No. 11-55497 (9 th Cir. Mar. 25, 2013) Luvdarts sued mobile multimedia messaging networks (MMS networks) based on copyright infringement over those networks. Luvdarts sells commercial MMS content, such as “greeting card style” messages, news, coupons, ad campaigns, and games. Show More Summary
Del Monte trademark, false advertising battle ends with damages and injunction
Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. v. Del Monte Foods Company, 08
Civ. 8718 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 28, 2012)
Fresh Del Monte (Fresh) mostly won a jury verdict on its
breach of contract and Lanham Act false advertising claims against Del Monte
(DMC). Show More Summary
Green is good?
Green calorie labels on candy bars make the candy bars seem healthier. Tell me again about how truthfulness is measured by rational, non-image-based, nonemotional standards? HT Mark McKenna.
Penn IP symposium: Cindy Cohn of EFF
Keynote Address Cindy Cohn, Legal Director & General Counsel, Electronic Frontier Foundation None of this is new. People have always made up new rules for favorite games. People have always old new stories with their favorite characters, including playing Star Trek in he backyard. Show More Summary
Penn Symposium: 3D printing
Series 3: 3D Printing William Cass, Partner, Cantor Colburn LLP Tech invented decades ago to allow rapid prototyping without making molds; why is it interesting now? Body part printing! Cheaper parts! ASTM committee has a goal of creating...Show More Summary
Penn symposium: fan fiction
Series 2: Fan Fiction Heidi Tandy, Legal Committee, Organization forTransformative Works Fan creativity is as old as storytelling. Distribution is a lot wider these days, hough. If you want a live singalong of Once More with Feeling you may need to inquire about rights. Show More Summary
Penn symposium: gaming
Penn Symposium Series 1: Game Development & Modification Jon Festinger, Professor, Center for Digital Media, University of British Columbia History with Grand Prix—fell in love with a game that wasn’t successful but that had a passionate fandom and built a multiplayer version, changed the art. Show More Summary